LUZURA_THE_HUMAN_WITCH
[L]: Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?
[A]: Good morning to you too, Luz.
[L]: Yeah, hi. Guess what?
[A]: You were finally able to un-summon your scroll?
[L]: No. Still need to carry it around in my pocket. But...
[L]: Remember that empty business card Liwin gave me?
[A]: Yeah, you told me about it.
[A]: Did something happen with it?
[L]: YES!
[L]: Today is the first meeting! At noon.
[A]: Awesome
[A]: Wait… That's during school, isn't it?
[L]: I hope you don't mind ditching classes later
[A]: Yk, just a few months ago I would have rather died than breaking any rules. Let alone skipping school...
[A]: But I had already told you that I'm in
Amity grins like a fool, still lying in her bed, her scroll in her hands, having just been woken up by Luz. Since she gifted Luz her own scroll, every day of this week always began exactly like this, and from Amity's point of view, her days couldn't start any more perfectly. Every day of this week always started with a lovely "Good Morning" message from Luz, which inevitably led to Amity hugging her scroll tightly to her heart, each and every time.
Without fail, every day so far, when Luz and Amity were not physically in the same place, they spent chatting with each other. Admittedly, it had something obsessive in itself, but there is simply nothing that can separate Amity from her Luz. While she would love to stay at Owl House every day, she knows it would be nearly impossible for her to do anything productive, like homework, for example. And although she no longer wants to join a coven, she still cares about getting good grades. But... well, priorities.
LUZURA_THE_HUMAN_WITCH
[L]: I couldn't have asked for any better answer ;)
[L]: I'll pick you up later
[A]: You pick me up later?
[A]: You're not coming to school today?
[L]: Sorry, Ams. I discovered something new yesterday and I want to surprise you with it.
[L]: Don't worry about it. You'll be impressed. I can guarantee that
[A]: I'll take notes for you in class
❤️
A sad smile graces Amity's face as she puts her scroll aside. Disappointment fills her thoughts, followed by suspense, curiosity, and excitement. This state doesn't last long, however, because an unexpected sound makes her slip out of her thoughts.
Knock knock.
'Knocking? Since when do Ed and Em knock?', she wonders.
"Um, come in?"
Her bedroom door opens, and her dad enters her room.
"Oh, um... Good morning, Mittens. Did I wake you up?", he asks with insecurity in his voice. Amity merely shakes her head slightly. "Good, good... Wait a minute, is that the Champion's Belt? Where did you get that?", he asks thoroughly stunned as he looks towards Amity's desk where the belt lies on top of.
"Won it. At the brawl. Almost one week ago."
"Oh.", is all he says at first. "You participated... and won?"
"I won all the preliminary rounds, and made it to the finals against Warden Wrath. But... I didn't win, though. Luz did, actually. She was the one who gave me the belt... After she saved my life."
"Luz?", he asks.
"The human... And my girlfriend..."
"Oh...", he contorts his face in regret and shame, "Umm... and since when-"
"Dad, why are you here?", Amity cuts him off.
"Right. Um, I'm here to tell you that I'm going to take you to school today."
"What? Why?"
"Your mother had called me a little while ago and demanded that I bring the twins to her to the new factory. And I figured I could drop you off at the school on the way.", he explains.
"Pass.", Amity replies as she moves her blanket aside and moves to sit on the edge of the bed.
"Excuse me?"
"You know, I would absolutely want to spend time with you-", Alador swallows hard, his gaze not averting from his daughter, "But not like this."
"I was actually thinking that you could use this as an opportunity to say goodbye for the duration that they won't be here... But, still good to know what you're thinking about that.", he says disheartened, turning around, and leaving her room again.
"Dad...", Amity gets up from her bed in order to run after him, when Edric and Emira suddenly rush into her room, screaming.
"MITTENS!", they scream indignantly. Emira stops short of her sister. Edric, on the other hand, does not, and throws Amity, along with himself, onto her bed.
"Ugh...", Amity grunts, "Get off of me!"
"Em...", Edric starts after rolling to the side, "I thought we were going to do this together..."
"You shouldn't believe everything I say, Ed.", Emira answers him dryly. Amity has sat up by now, with her brother beside her, and Emira now sits down on her other side. Amity speaks up.
"So, Mom wants you guys at the new factory...", she says to no one in particular.
"Yup. But only for a couple of weeks...", Edric says.
"But why? And why today of all days? Weekend isn't until tomorrow...", Amity states. Emira speaks up first.
"According to Dad, all the factory workers simply left, and Mom wants, until she has hired new people, that Ed and I-", Emira raises her hands to make air quotes, "can familiarize ourselves with the internal company structure..."
"Mom will definitely regret forcing us to work at the factory.", Edric adds cheerfully.
"Good... Good...", Amity mumbles, sounding somewhat neutral, as Emira suddenly hugs her tightly.
"Don't worry, within two weeks at most, we'll either have destroyed the factory or driven Mom sufficiently insane that she'll send us back. So, you won't be rid of us for too long...", Emira speaks encouragingly. Edric joins in the hug, and Amity actually seems to enjoy this embrace for once.
"Hope you don't have too much fun without us. You know, all alone... Just with dad here in the house... Who probably wouldn't notice if you wouldn't be here for several nights...", Edric teases her, whereupon he gets a light slap from Emira.
"Hey, don't give her any ideas, Ed.", Emira says, to which Amity giggles, and the hug breaks up again. The twins get up from Amity's bed and make their way to her room door.
"I'll see you in a few weeks.", Emira says, and Amity waves goodbye as Edric suddenly yanks himself away and throws himself at Amity again, crying with all his might.
"Oh Mittens... I'm going to miss you soo much.", he cries. Amity is having none of it though and practically throws him off of her.
"Fuck off, Ed!", she says angrily. Emira giggles at the door, grabs her brother, and they both leave her room together, closing the door behind them.
'Two whole weeks without the twins... Uhh, wait a second...', Amity quickly picks up her scroll and opens Luz' contact.
LUZURA_THE_HUMAN_WITCH
[A]: I might have a surprise for you too
[A]: Later
[L]: I am already excited about it
It's just after seven o'clock on a Friday morning, and there are still a good thirty minutes before classes start. More than enough time to take a relaxing shower, dress without being rushed, and make herself a quick breakfast.
In the end, with about ten minutes to spare, Amity now stands outside her room, wearing her purple school uniform, her bag of books hanging off her shoulder, and holding Ghost in her staff form in her hand. She places her hand on the railing and glances briefly down into the empty living room. The fireplace is not lit. No sounds come from her father's workshop.
Sliding her hand over the railing, she slowly walks past her siblings' rooms, their doors wide open. She takes a quick look into both rooms, a slight feeling of sadness filling her.
Shortly after, she leaves the house, closing the large front door behind her, and heads off on the several-minute flight to school. She is actually quite grateful to have Ghost on a day like this. In all the years prior, she either had to walk along with the twins, or she was taken in the company wagon, which is as big, ugly, and uncomfortable to sit in as it can possibly be. This is the same wagon that her father now uses to bring the twins to the new factory, and every second she doesn't have to ride in it is a good one. Not only are her parents both lousy drivers, the stench of the tamed snake horses who are pulling the wagon, is absolutely unbearable in the long run. They may look totally stunning, but at the same time, smell sickening. Wild snake horses, on the other hand, are quite different. They not only look beautiful; they have a wonderful scent. It is a common theory that snake horses, after being captured and tamed, will neglect their own hygiene, and subconsciously emit a disgusting stench to force their captors to release them.
Amity finally arrives at Hexside and waves to Gus, who happens to enter the premises at the same time. Her first two periods for the day are in 'Applied Defenses' with Professor Hermonculus. This is something like a bi-weekly, cross-track class, with the goal of practical magical skills training. Basically, it's like a gym class where talented students beat the crap out of each other. Of course, one can't call it that, right?
Before Amity heads to the gym, however, she quickly scurries to her locker to put away her books and other materials for the day, none of which she will need for this first class.
As is common with all upper grades, Amity's locker is on the top floor of the building, not counting the school's towers. Also, her locker is directly across from Luz'. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Advantage because she can see Luz every day. And disadvantage because Luz, but also all other passing students, can look into her locker. And that makes her a little uncomfortable, considering that in her locker door hang several photos, some of them drawings, most of which, in one form or another, depict her together with Luz. And while she no longer cares about her social status, the fact that others could potentially make fun of her because of that, is something she would like to avoid.
Amity has just put the last of her books together with her bag into her locker, when suddenly someone taps her on the shoulder from behind. Startled, she slams her locker door shut and turns around. It is Skara, who is slightly startled.
"Sorry Amity. I didn't mean to scare you...", she apologizes sincerely.
"Oh, Skara, hi. Um, no problem.", Amity replies, trying to sound normal, "What's up?"
"I actually just wanted to give you a heads up about Boscha...", Skara begins.
"Give me a heads up? Why?", Amity inquires, to which Skara grits her teeth in embarrassment.
"Well, after Boscha bullied Willow again yesterday and you intervened, Amelia had also decided to cut contact with Boscha..."
"And Boscha now blames me for that?", Amity asks, sounding not very surprised.
"Mhm.", Skara hums in confirmation, to which Amity sighs in annoyance.
"Okay, thank you Skara.", Amity says with a slight smile just before the class bell rings, "Damn, I gotta go."
Amity and Skara say a quick goodbye before Amity picks up her feet and runs to the gym, only to find the doors locked, with a note pinned to it from Professor Hermonculus, stating that all students are to assemble outside on the sports field.
Growling in annoyance, Amity runs off again, down the hall once across the school, past several students to the grounds outside, where the rest of the class has already almost fully assembled. 'Applied Defenses' is actually one of the smaller cross-track classes with only twelve students. There is a second group of twelve students that has this class every other week. Why the class was split so oddly, or who decided that, was never explained to them. From Amity's group, she herself does not know all the students by name, mainly because she herself happens to be the only one from the Abomination track. It is generally the case that not all tracks are represented there with two or more students each. There are just two students that she does know: the first one is Viney, who is doing the healings for this class that might be needed, and the other person is Boscha. Who is actually not part of this class...
Amity sneaks up right behind her, who doesn't seem to notice her.
"What are you doing here?", Amity whispers near Boscha's ear, expecting to startle her. Instead, she doesn't even turn around.
"You know exactly what you've done. And you're going to pay for it!", Boscha answers her in the same volume, but in a more powerful voice.
"But you're not even in this class...", Amity remarks.
"I'm the captain of the Banshees. I can do whatever I want!", Boscha retorts, which the professor now catches on too.
"Miss Blight. Miss Van Nejd. Please stop your conversations or share what you have discussed with each other with the rest of the class!", Professor Hermonculus addresses the two girls directly. Boscha speaks up.
"I apologize, Professor.", Boscha says in a disgustingly sweet voice. Professor Hermonculus, however, is having none of it, as he begins to speak in a serious tone.
"Miss Van Nejd... Don't play the model student with me. Your reputation is well known to me, and I'm not just talking about your accomplishments as captain of the Grudgby team. You're only in my class because Principal Bump approved it. Step out of line and I will remove you immediately. Do you understand?"
Boscha merely nods slightly, and as he turns, she turns to Amity, who throws her a spiteful smirk, believing that her revenge plan, whatever it may have been, has now fallen flat.
Wrong.
"Okay, everyone. Pay attention!", Professor Hermonculus stands prominently in front of the class, "Today you're going to duel each other. As mentioned last time, your grade will not depend on whether or not you win the duel, but on how effectively you can defend yourselves against your opponents. I repeat: the result doesn't matter... And no close-combat! So, who would like to start? Any volunteers?"
Instinctively, Amity's hand shoots up. A mistake, as she immediately realizes.
"Miss Blight, very good. And who would like to-", he interrupts himself as he notices Boscha's hand raised, "Miss Van Nejd, all right. As a student of Potion-track, I hope they already have ready-made potions with them. There is no time-"
"I assure you, Professor. I am always prepared for such an occasion.", Boscha assures him, taking out a belt on a cloth pouch, in which several different colored potions are fastened.
A short time later, all the students except Amity and Boscha have cleared the area. The professor is standing between the two girls.
"Get ready!", he shouts. Amity creates an Abomination almost thrice her size, and Boscha takes two throwing potions from her belt in her hands. One is green, the other shimmering silver-colored. He continues.
"Get set. Begin!", he takes several steps back before Amity's Abomination immediately launches into an attack.
It runs at Boscha, who immediately throws the silver potion at it. The bottle shatters on impact and within seconds the entire Abomination is fully frozen.
"An Abomination freezing spell... How delightful.", Professor Hermonculus comments as Amity tries to return the Abomination liquid to its original state. Boscha throws her a mischievous grin as she struggles to do so.
"Oops, I must have made the frost spell too strong... My bad...", Boscha says to which Amity angrily frowns at her, "But for now, say goodnight, Blight!".
Quickly realizing that Boscha has swapped the green potion for a light blue one. Quickly Amity tries again to retrieve the frozen abomination liquid to her, but by then it was already too late.
The potion bottle bursts right in front of Amity, and light blue steam completely envelops her. In an instant, her eyes become enormously heavy, and her legs begin to sag.
'A sleeping spell...', Amity realizes as she tumbles to the ground. Right before her eyes finally close, she catches a glimpse of the dense steam gradually dissolving, and Boscha approaching her, kneeling down next to her.
"You take my friends, I'll take your grades.", is the last thing Amity hears before she drifts off to a deep sleep.
Sometime later...
Amity slowly begins to regain consciousness. It was a dreamless sleep, but Amity is nothing but annoyed right now. Though, this annoyance quickly turns to worry, however, when she realizes that someone is softly rubbing the back of her head.
Amity snaps her eyes open, shoots her torso upward, and sees that she is in the healer's office.
"What?", she mutters to herself.
"Good morning sleeping princess...", a soft voice speaks from behind her.
"Luz.", Amity says delightedly, jumping down from the hospital bed, tripping over her own legs in the process, causing Luz to catch her. With relief written all over her face, Luz holds Amity for several seconds before Amity truly realizes what is happening around her at this very moment. She eyes Luz, on whose shoulder Owlbert is sitting. She's not wearing her school uniform, which isn't too surprising. She is wearing the owl lady's Grudgby jacket, and carries a fanny pack across her chest, slightly open, and wherein Amity seems to recognize Luz's concealment bracelet.
"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down... You just woke up.", Luz supports her.
"What... How long was I out?", Amity asks still weakly, as she sits back down on a nearby chair with Luz's help.
"Not sure, but it's almost lunch.", Luz replies, "Do you remember what happened?"
"Ugh, I'm going to kill her.", Amity groans.
"No, you won't.", Luz flatly objects to her, not even asking who Amity is referring to, "So, you do remember what happened?"
"Boscha snuck into my 'Applied Defenses' class and tried to sabotage me with an extra strong sleeping potion".
"Why?", Luz asks, "I mean, sure, it's Boscha... But still..."
"She blames me for her friends distancing themselves from her.", Amity explains.
"Yeah, kinda makes sense.", Luz comments just before the school bell rings for lunch, "Are you hungry?"
"What about the meeting? I thought you said it was around noon..."
"Yeah, and we still have twenty minutes left.", Luz replies, then immediately continues when she realizes Amity has more questions, "And, I found a cool shortcut that will save us lots of travel time. So... Hungry?"
"... Yes.", Amity ultimately admits. Luz gives a brief, triumphant grin before standing up and offering Amity her hand as a support to help her get up.
Amity stares at Luz's hand for a few moments with an inexpressive look on her face, before a slight smile spreads across her face and she proudly takes her hand in her own, before getting up. Fortunately, by now she's a bit more awake and stable enough on her own two feet. This is no reason to let go of Luz's hand again, however.
"Tell me, Luz-", Amity begins as they both make their way out of the healer's office, "How long did you wait here for me to wake up, anyway?"
"Not long... Ten minutes, maybe.", Luz replies, slightly sheepish. Suddenly, the school's healer announces herself from the corner of her office.
"She was here for more than an hour playing with your hair, Missy.", she shouts after the two girls. Amity sees Luz blush slightly.
"Maybe a little longer than that...", she admits while blushing. Both girls start giggling wildly and make their way through the school towards the cafeteria.
They walk there leisurely, with quite a few other students passing them by. In fact, this is the first time Luz and Amity appear publicly as girlfriends holding hands.
Until now, Amity was actually a little afraid of others finding out about their relationship. But now the truth is, that she has completely different things going through her mind.
'Oh, my titan, I'm holding Luz's hand... I'm holding my girlfriend's hand... My girlfriend, who is Luz... Luz is my girlfriend', Amity blushes to herself. Luz looks at her from time to time as they walk, and can't help but smile broadly at the sight. This continues for several minutes, until they're almost there, and are intercepted by Celine, the crescent-headed girl from the oracle track, who looks rather unnerved.
"Amity, thank Titan, you're finally awake again.", she says sounding relieved, "That was a really bad stunt what Boscha did. Not cool."
"Um, thanks...", Amity and Luz look at each other uncertainly, "Were you waiting for me or something like that?"
"Yes. Okay, listen, I have to explain myself real quick: Every Friday before school starts, I make contact with the ghost world. Sometimes a ghost comes to me just to chat, and sometimes one comes to me with a prediction or prophecy about the future."
"I think I can see where this is going...", Luz comments vaguely.
"Yeah... What exactly does that have to do with me?", Amity asks.
"Well... the ghost refuses to talk to me. It says nothing but your name all day so far. Do you have a minute to come to the Oracle lab?", Celine asks with a hint of desperation in her voice. Amity looks questioningly at her girlfriend, who nods affirmatively.
"Um, sure. We'll come with you."
"Both of you?", Celine wonders, just before her gaze falls on Luz' and Amity's interlocked hands, "Oh, okay. Yeah, of course."
Walking briskly, Celine leads the two girls to the oracle lab. Fortunately, the lab is only two doors away from the cafeteria.
As the three of them enter the room, a slight feeling of disappointment overcomes Amity. As a student in the abomination track, she usually only sees her own classrooms, and not those of other tracks. Willow has told her that the plant-track has a special lab, next to the greenhouse, with some special plants. Mostly the ones considered too dangerous. The twins have told her that the illusion lab is equipped with many mirrors, prisms, or modeling aids.
The oracle lab, on the other hand, has no special equipment, with the exception of two transparent crystal balls per table. It is basically nothing more than a regular classroom. Amity had at least imagined the lab to have some oracle- or ghost-specific decorations. Or curtains or dark carpets hanging on the walls. Instead, just, bare, white walls. Disappointing.
Celine leads the two girls to her seat, where there is a gray swirling mist in her crystal ball. Celine stands on one side of the table, Luz and Amity on the other side, still holding hands. Luz looks at it in curiosity, Amity in concern. Celine puts her hands on either side of the crystal ball and makes it light up.
"Amity Blight is here.", she speaks clearly, and mere seconds later, a translucent ghost appears, though its end remains inside the ball. Luz leans toward Amity.
"Someone you know?", Luz wonders. Amity eyes the ghost briefly before shaking her head. The pointed ears immediately reveal that it is indeed a deceased witch. She wears a white frilly dress, and has white hair, indicating that she died of old age.
"Amity Blight?", the ghost repeats. Amity nods, and the ghost smiles kindly. "My name is Bludoria Blight. I am the grandmother of your father, Alador."
"Very pleased to meet you.", Amity replies with a slight curtsy.
"Uh, a fine-mannered lady, I see... Okay, listen up, I'm short on time. There are two things I need to tell you. Number one, do you know about the cottage, near Las Pelvis, that your family owns?", Amity nods, "In my day, that house had a basement that I sealed up near the end of my life. Be a dear and stop by there sometime. The entrance is located in the staircase."
"Basement entrance in the staircase, got it.", Amity repeats.
"Very good.", the ghost of Amity's great-grandmother speaks with a joyful tone before it abruptly changes, taking on a very serious tone, bordering on sorrowful. The three girls begin to shiver slightly, "And now a word of warning: a grave tragedy is upon you, Amity Blight. Very soon, you will lose two individuals close to you. One that your heart longs for, and one that it repels with all its might. You will not be able to save either of them. And now, farewell..."
"NO! WHAT? STAY HERE!", Amity shrieks in panic as the ghost quickly retreats back into the crystal ball, and the fog within dissipates. Amity jumps onto the table, snatches the crystal ball from Celine's hands and begins to shake it frantically, "WHO DO I LOSE? WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN? ANSWER ME!"
Celine and Luz both struggle to calm Amity down. Unsuccessfully so far. Only when she shakes and squeezes the ball with her hands so forcefully that it cracks, just then as Amity realizes what she has done, she climbs back down from the table.
"I'm sorry about your crystal ball.", Amity remorsefully says as she places the cracked ball back into its holder. And while Amity merely looks thoroughly guilty, Luz and Celine's mouths are wide open, and no one is talking.
"What?", Amity eventually does speak up.
"You broke my crystal ball-", Celine states.
"I already told you that I'm-", Amity was about to apologize again, but Celine cuts her off.
"And that with your bare hands...", she adds.
"Yeah, so?", Amity answers like it's nothing unusual. Now Luz speaks up.
"I don't think I've ever met anyone that strong...", she says admiringly. Amity doesn't elaborate on that, though.
"Can we please go back to the fact that people are going to die? And that Luz is possibly one of them?", Amity speaks up and grabs Luz hand, now more determined than ever to never let her go, "Can you bring that ghost back? Please? I NEED to know more!"
"... I'm sorry, but I assume the ghost is gone. Like, for good.", Celine answers after some hesitation.
"What do you mean by 'for good'?", Amity asks anxiously.
"Yeah, I'm actually curious about that too.", Luz adds to that. Celine sighs.
"Luz, remember when I told you, that time and space as we know them do not exist in the ghost world?", Celine asks, to which Luz nods, "The reason builds on top of that... Ghosts can theoretically exist indefinitely, and also travel indefinitely between the ghost world and, for example, this one, and that in theory also at any time in history or the future. However, most ghosts move exclusively forward in the time line, because there is one major problem: If a ghost has once been in the future, and returns to the past and changes anything there, no matter how small it might be, the ghost changes its own past at the same time, which leads to the fact that it will never have been in the future to learn what information it brought back. By doing that, it erases itself."
"Uh, so like some kind of paradox?", Luz asks, causing Amity to frow at her.
"Don't tell me you understood that?", Amity asks Luz. She herself currently feels like hot steam is pouring out of her ears right now.
"Well, I have some basic knowledge about time travel and paradoxes. You just shouldn't think about it for too long or it gets too complicated.", Luz tries to explain to her girlfriend. Amity just shakes her head in dismissal.
"How- How likely is it that such a prediction will actually come true?", Amity asks Celine extremely worried by now, "I mean, you meant the ghost already changed the future when she told us about it. But she herself said that they cannot be saved... What is it now?"
"It's actually hard to say. It happens extremely rarely that a ghost is willing to sacrifice itself, just to send a future prophesy back into the past. And often an event can be prevented just by getting the message that something is going to happen to someone in the past, be it an accident, or something like that. Bigger things, like natural disasters, are more rarely preventable, and you can only try to save as many people as possible. It doesn't always succeed, though, and the ghosts know that."
"Okay, so we know there's going to be a natural disaster?!", Amity asks, increasingly panicked and frustrated. Celine shakes her head.
"Not for sure, no.", she replies, to which Amity's panic only continues to rise. She begins to tear up, which Luz notices immediately.
"Celine, do you think you could leave us alone for a moment?", Luz asks her nicely.
"Of course. I'll be in the cafeteria if you need anything.", she replies. Luz nods gratefully, and Celine leaves the room. And even before the room door slams shut, Amity can no longer hold back, burying her head deep into Luz' shoulder as she cries her eyes out. Luz hesitates briefly, not knowing exactly how to act in this situation. On the other hand, she doesn't have to think long about what she can do to offer comfort to her crying girlfriend.
Luz hugs her close, and both girls embrace the undisturbedness around them.
"I don't want to lose you again.", Amity whispers in a muffled voice into Luz's shoulder after a while, and after her sobs have subsided a bit, "I already lost you once, and I don't think I could bear it, to... to-"
"You're not going to lose me.", Luz replies with as much confidence as she can muster right now. Amity breaks the embrace, wiping some tears from her cheeks.
"But the prophecy says-"
"Then it's wrong!", Luz states firmly, holding Amity by her shoulders, who doesn't dare contradict her right now, "It was just some ghost saying something that we have no way of knowing if it's actually true or not."
"But normally-"
"Amity, please listen to me carefully.", Luz cuts her off firmly, before she brushes her thumb alone one of her cheeks, wiping some tears away, "We can't tell what's going to happen tomorrow. Or the day after that. Or the day after that... It's not like it's written somewhere. The future itself is not set in stone, no matter what any ghosts say... Right here, right now, I am here. With you. And there's no point in driving ourselves crazy over something like those what-if questions. What we can do, though, is be there for each other."
'How does this girl do it?', Amity asks herself, 'How does she manage to make me feel better now than I did before?'
Amity smiles slightly, leans forward and gives Luz a soft kiss on her cheek, who immediately blushes.
"Thank you.", Amity says softly, and Luz merely stares at her with an uncomprehending look, seemingly desperately searching for words.
The two girls stare at each other's eyes in silence, until after a while Amity is able to shift her gaze from Luz, to the wall clock immediately behind her.
"We... we have ten minutes left until the meeting starts...", Amity interrupts the silence, her head feeling incredibly warm. For Luz herself, it takes a while for Amity's words to reach her mind. She blinks several times in quick succession.
"Oh, y-yes... Right. There's no time for lunch anymore now.", Luz chuckles sheepishly.
"Yeah.", Amity confirms equally awkwardly, "We should go."
Together, Luz and Amity leave the oracle lab, and head towards the cafeteria, since that's where the closest exit is. In the middle of the room, however, Luz stops.
"Do you mind waiting here for a minute? I need to talk to Celine real quick.", Luz asks.
"Oh, okay. Sure.", Amity replies, whereupon Luz makes her way to a table in one of the corners of the room. Meanwhile, Amity sits down at one of the empty tables and waits. But and as soon as Luz is away from her, fear begins to creep back into her mind. Fortunately, the arrival of Willow and Gus prevents another anxiety attack.
"Hey Amity.", Willow greets her. Amity lifts her head and greets back in a friendly manner.
"Hey...", she says.
"I'm sorry about what happened to Boscha... Thankfully, she's been suspended for the rest of the day.", Gus says gleefully. This info is new to Amity though.
"That's a good thing... Although I don't think she'll learn anything from that...", Amity replies disparagingly.
"Yeah, probably.", Willow agrees, "But still, this feels like a little bit of justice."
At that point Luz returns.
"Hey guys.", Luz greets Willow and Gus. As Amity gets up from her seat, Willow speaks up.
"Hey Luz, did you happen to see Skara around?", she asks her. Amity answers first, though.
"Um, Skara is usually already home by this time, if the last class is cancelled.", she replies.
"Oh.", Willow merely says, sounding a bit dejected. Luz speaks up.
"You know Skara's schedule?"
"I know all my friends' schedules... even Boscha's.", Amity replies, "And today, like every other week, Skara has no fourth period. And since Miss Fier is sick this week..."
"Right...", Willow confirms. Luz now speaks up.
"Okay, if you know all our schedules, what's my last class on Wednesday?"
"A double period 'Construction'."
"Thursday last period?"
"Potions."
"Tuesday first period?"
"Bard-o-lo-gy.", a triumphant smile graces Amity's face, while she intentionally emphasizes every single syllable. Luz' face, on the other hand, is adorned with nothing but admiration.
"Wow...", Luz whispers to herself as Amity turns back to Willow.
"What do you need from Skara, anyway? Maybe I can pass something on...", Amity offers, but Willow declines as she shakes her head, to which Gus speaks up.
"She was going to walk home with her and ask her out later".
"AUGUSTUS!", Willow shrieks, before slamming her hands over her mouth, while blushing heavily. Luz' and Amity's jaws both drop to the depths of the planet. If Luz had water in her mouth right now, it would be spurting out with the speed of a pressure washer.
"I hope no one else heard that...", Willow whispers as she looks around cautiously.
Once she's calmed down and seen that no one but her friends probably overheard what she said, she turns back to her friends. She is briefly startled, however, when she sees a diabolical grin on Amity's face. And she immediately knows what it means.
"No.", Willow mutters.
"Oh yes.", Amity counters.
"Noo...", Willow repeats, aghast.
"You deserve this."
"Don't do it, I beg you...", Willow begs desperately. Suddenly Luz also speaks up, not quite understanding what is going on between them right now.
"Don't do what?", Luz asks, to which Amity pretends to sigh in exhaustion.
"Luz, I think it's about time I tell you about the time our dear friend Willow told Skara about my crush on you... just like that, and without my consent. And well, that's already about it.", Amity recounts with a smirk, while keeping eye contact with Willow, "And now I've been presented with a great opportunity to return the favor..."
"Please don't-", Willow starts, but Amity cuts her off.
"Oh, and then there was the twins' bet you got in on...", Amity continues, but without a single trace of malice in her voice. It's nothing but mischievous joy. Willow now turns to Luz.
"Please Luz... Please don't let her tell Skara any of this...", Willow pleads holding one of Luz' hands. Luz, on the other hand, is still not sure whose side to take.
"I don't know...", Luz answers, "Actually, I really do wanna know more, but also, Amity and I are in quite a hurry right now too..."
"Uh, where are you guys going?", Gus asks.
"It's a secret.", Luz replies mysteriously, "But... I can show you something cool if you're up for it. You'll have to come with me for a minute though..."
"Sure.", Gus replies gleefully, "Willow?"
Willow's gaze remains anxiously on Luz, who just smiles briefly and winks at her reassuringly. Willow exhales in relief, right before the four of them leave the cafeteria, walking towards the back of the school to an emptier part of the premises.
Luz retrieves Owlbert and begins to explain.
"Okay, as you know, I've been experimenting with new spells all week-", she begins.
"Yeah, I think you had mentioned something along those lines once or twice...", Willow says sarcastically, while Amity and Gus grin in amusement at that. In fact, Luz had, every time she found or learned something new this week, she wrote to her friends or called them completely beside herself with joy and excitement, telling them all about it. Except for yesterday. Yesterday there was complete communication silence. Luz continues.
"Well, yesterday, with Owlbert's help, I discovered... this.", Luz swings Owlbert around, and after a brief flash of yellow light, Luz suddenly finds herself several meters from her previous position. Her friends' eyes light up.
"Oh my titan... You can teleport? How?", Willow asks. Gus looks equally curious, while Amity, on the other hand, just gazes in awe, her stomach filled with butterflies. Or fairies.
"Well, it's not really a teleport. It's more of a dashing kind of thing... I had first seen it when Eda fought Lilith. The glyph itself is quite... complicated, but tweakable and modifiable. And here comes the cool part-"
"That wasn't the cool part yet?", Gus asks incredulously. Luz chuckles at that.
"Sorry Gus. So, as I said, I saw a pretty complete glyph combo when I was dashing. It's not really necessary when Owlbert is around, but it's good to have it... Experimenting yesterday, I figured out how to extend the distance from just a few meters to a theoretically unlimited range."
"No way!", Amity speaks up. A big grin spreads across Luz's face and she nods in affirmation.
"Unlimited as in anywhere in the Isles, or even to other worlds?", Gus asks. Luz' grin disappears again before she answers.
"I don't know about that... I don't think I can teleport to Amphibia or back to Earth with that- well, not yet at least. Um, that's a whole other problem, and I don't know if I'm ready to leave again..."
"Sorry.", Gus apologizes regretfully. In the first few days after Luz returned from Amphibia, she wanted nothing more than to get back there. The feeling of having abandoned her friends there caused her bad dreams, and intense feelings of remorse, for a long time. It took her a while to figure out her priorities, and it wasn't easy. She still misses her friends from Amphibia tremendously, but equally she misses her mom on Earth. And then there are her friends here, as well as her girlfriend... Three worlds, but only one Luz. She speaks up again.
"Um, the teleporting isn't flawless, though. For example, I need to know exactly where the destination is. Ideally, it's places I've already been. And... the greater the distance, the greater the inaccuracy."
"What do you mean by that?", Gus asks.
"Well, I teleported to school for the first time today, and I wanted to land in the bushes. You know, the ones next to Bump's office.", Luz recounts, and Gus nods, "Well, instead I ended up in Bump's office. Luckily, he wasn't there at the time."
"Still cool.", Willow comments.
"Yeah... Oh, Amity, almost forgot-", Luz suddenly spurts, pulling a business card out of her pocket and handing it to her girlfriend, "Do you know where this is? Or some place nearby?"
"42 Slug Street?", Amity reads aloud, "Hmm... Do you know that bakery that makes those amazing fairy pies?"
"No."
"Hmm... There's also a playground nearby... The only one in lower Bonesborough, as far as I know...", Amity tells us. Luz ponders shortly about that.
"Yeah, I think I know where that is. I used to go there with… Nevermind.", Luz confirms. Amity then turns back to Willow.
"Also, Skara lives not too far from here...", Amity teases Willow, who now doesn't react anxiously anymore, just with an eye roll. Luz chuckles at that.
"You know, you're growing more and more like your siblings...", Luz comments, at which Amity's face drops, "Like, you seem to have an increasing interest in pulling pranks..."
Willow joins in.
"Yeah, Luz does have a point. You really are becoming more like your siblings...", Willow teases her. Amity frowns angrily.
"Yeah, okay, I deserved that.", Amity admits, to which Luz, Gus, and Willow laugh briefly at her expense, "Let's just leave, okay?"
"Alright. Willow, Gus, you should take a few steps back.", Luz instructs them, and they do as they're told. This is actually the first time Willow and Gus see Luz doing magic with their own eyes, and without any glyphs. Well, outside of recorded videos at least.
Luz stands directly across from Amity.
"Hold my arms.", Luz instructs her. Gently, Amity places her hands on Luz's forearms, leaving her hands free, "This will be a first."
Amity nods confidently, but is quite nervous at the same time. She swallows strongly, after Luz closes her eyes.
The air begins to feel electrostatically charged, the hairs on Amity's arms and legs begin to stand up. Some of the lighter hairs on her head too, which fortunately are not many.
She observes the golden lightning bolts forming on Luz's arms, and immediately snaking towards her clenched fists. Luz unclenches her fists after several seconds and all the lightning bolts burst out, forming a giant combo glyph in the air encircling both girls. At at least two meters high, several glyphs interconnected by lines, or circling around one another- To Amity, it looks like a work of art. Luz opens her eyes, watching her girlfriend being in awe.
"Ready?", Luz asks, pausing the glyph column.
"No.", Amity replies, before moments later the construct collapses into itself, with a golden, blindingly bright light, and both girls, at least to outside observers, have vanished into thin air.
Almost convulsively, Amity squinted her eyes as the light enveloped her and Luz, and Luz herself did the same. What happened next, however, was rather strange... because nothing happened. Well, or at least Amity didn't notice anything. What she actually expected was rather... anything else. Be it sounds, like a 'whoosh', or the feeling of a gust of wind on her skin. This lack of anything is fairly underwhelming.
Amity clings to Luz, her eyes still tightly shut, waiting for Luz to say or do something. Instead, two things happen in quick succession, that she definitely wasn't expecting. One is the sound of porcelain dishes crashing onto the floor and breaking, and a sudden collapse of Luz.
Amity tears open her eyes and her gaze immediately falls on Luz, who is slumped powerlessly on her knees immediately in front of her, completely ignoring everything else around her. She gets on her knees as well, placing her hands gently on Luz's head.
"LUZ! Oh my titan, are you alright? Luz?", Amity panics. She exhales in absolute relief as Luz lifts her head, looking at her.
"Yeah.", she answers weakly, "I knew it would be more exhausting with more people than just myself, but still... Don't worry, I... I just need a moment"
"Okay.", Amity replies gently, but immensely worried. She takes a very deep breath.
As Luz gathers her strength again, Amity now has a chance to look around the place where she and Luz ended up at. It's a room, brightly lit, and she and Luz are kneeling on a round, red carpet. Against the wall to her right is a floor-to-ceiling tall, but only two-meter-wide shelf, full of folders of music sheets, music books, and a few smaller instruments. Amity freezes in her movement for a moment.
'Wait...', she thinks to herself, 'I only know one person who knows that many instruments...'
Amity turns around, and there, in the doorway of the room, is a third person, staring at the two girls with wide open eyes, and a broken plate in front of her feet.
"Hey, Skara...", Amity speaks with some caution. The two girls have somehow ended up in Skara's place. Luz also slowly raises her head now and notices Skara. Instead of looking embarrassed, however, as Amity does, her facial expression is rather one of confusion. Both girls watch as Skara struggles in vain to form words in her mouth. Amity decides to try to give her a head's up. "Yeah, um... Luz has discovered a new spell, and... we missed our destination slightly..."
"Y-Yeah...", Skara stammers, "I almost thought my room was going to explode before you guys showed up..."
Amity helps Luz to her still unsteady feet before Skara continues.
"You guys probably wanted to go to that secret meeting next door, right?", she asks, now having regained her posture, causing Luz to widen her eyes.
"H-how did you know about that?", she nearly yells.
"I didn't. But thanks for confirming it.", she replies smiling with satisfaction, "But for real, I saw multiple people walk into what seems to be a wall, when they thought no one was looking."
"Well done, Luz.", Amity whispers.
"Sorry.", Luz whispers back before turning her attention back to Skara, "So, what now?"
"I have two questions.", Skara starts excitedly, "What's that thing about? Have you joined a cult? Well, that's three questions actually..."
"It's a resistance movement against Belos.", Luz answers, at which Skara's eyes light up.
"Cool... And last question: Can I join, too?"
This question is extremely unexpected for both of them. The two girlfriends look at each other in surprise and confusion.
"Why?", Luz wonders.
"Do I really need a reason?"
"Yes, you do.", Amity replies.
"Fine. The truth is... I'm bored.", Skara merely replies.
"Seriously?", Amity asks.
"Take a look around, Amity. What do you see here?", Skara prompts her, and she does just that. Classy furniture, a four-poster bed with three mattresses stacked on top of each other, rare books in new condition... In general, everything looks very high quality and clean. Luz, who now regained some of her strength, speaks up.
"Is there anything in particular we should notice?", she wonders.
"All my life I've had it good. My parents made sure that I never lacked for anything, for that they themselves were rarely at home. Look around: Everything here is so valuable, luxurious, and expensive... Why should I have all this stuff, when there are so many other witches and demons out there, who can't afford it, and most likely never will be able to. All this stuff... I mean, my parents would kill me if I gave any of it away or sold any of it, but... I just want to do something. I mean, Amity, aren't you tired of all the unnecessary luxury and ostentation? All this... This life is selfishness and boredom in its essence... Do you know what I mean?"
"I... I think so...", Amity answers vaguely. She looks at Luz, who merely nods, "Okay, you can come."
"Yes!", Skara celebrates, "You won't regret it."
"Yeah... Wait.", Amity says, "Before we go... Skara, do you mind if I change here at your place for a minute? I hadn't thought to put on my regular clothes at school, and it wouldn't be the best idea to show up at the meeting in my school uniform..."
"Sure. Luz and I can wait outside the door.", Skara replies. Amity nods in agreement before Skara enters the room, takes Luz from Amity, and leaves the room with her, propping her up on her shoulders, and closing the door behind her.
Immediately, Amity retrieves her own bag, from which she pulls out her black short sleeved dress, as well as her orchid gemstone amulet. The purple leggings of her uniform, as well as the dark gray boots, she doesn't intend to change.
While Amity is changing, she can't help but notice that Skara's room door isn't particularly soundproof, and she can overhear Luz and Skara talking.
"So, Luz... Will Willow be there too?", Skara asks shyly and trying to sound innocent, and a huge knowing smirk appears on Amity's face.
"Sorry Skara, but you're the only one in the loop.", Luz replies to her.
Amity decides to stop eavesdropping and quickly finish changing, not knowing how much time they have left before the meeting starts.
Shortly after, she has finished changing, and while she is still packing the tops of her school uniform back into her bag, she is already in the process of leaving the room. She opens the door and sees Luz and Skara waiting to leave, with scrolls in their hands. Luz speaks up.
"We have two minutes left.", she notes.
"Easy.", Skara comments, "Let's go."
Way less than half a minute later, the three girls have now left Skara's place, and walk a few meters to the wall Skara described earlier. Amity and Skara press their hands against the stone wall, scanning it.
"This can't be...", Skara says indignantly, "I saw people going through here earlier... I swear."
"I think I have an idea... Healer Liwin's practice is hidden behind a barrier where you first have to prove you're not part of the Emperor's Covens beforehand.", Luz is now gliding her fingers over the large stones as well, with Amity and Skara listening to her with interest. Suddenly, however, something catches Luz's eye. One of the stones has a slight bluish glow. "Aha, an illusion."
Luz puts her hand through the illusion, but nothing happens at first.
"You guys have to do this too.", Luz says, and both Amity and Skara put their hand through the illusion after one another. And immediately after Skara removes her hand last, a larger portion of the wall begins to glow bluish as well. "Aha!", Luz exclaims proudly, "We can enter now."
The three girls step through the illusion wall with Luz, who went through first, head on, which immediately becomes massive again behind them once they're all through. No one had actually expected any kind of noise, but when a dull sound was heard when the wall got massive again, the three of them were slightly startled. The sound is about the same as when a heavy bag of flour falls on stone. It is not loud, but still unexpected.
In front of them now is a staircase that leads further into the ground. The walls are covered with the same bluish stones as the outer wall, where each stone is about twenty centimeters in diameter, assuming they were perfectly round. Somehow, however, it was managed to fit all these angular, and completely asymmetrical stones together, almost without any gaps in between. The steps they are descending are not made of the same stone, however, but of pressed gravel, and torches hang on the walls several meters from each other.
Immediately at the bottom of the stairs, the three of them enter a single, surprisingly large room where several people are already present. Five of them to be exact. And one of them noticed the girls entering and approaches them.
"Wow...", Skara mutters, "I've lived next door all my life, and I never knew there was such a big basement hidden down here..."
"That's because it didn't exist until yesterday.", the witch who came up to them now standing in front of them. An older woman with white hair, put together in a bun, and almost two heads taller than Amity. She now turns to Luz, "I'm glad you made it, Luz."
"Like I'm missing out on this...", Luz replies with a smile.
"Alright, so who's this?", she asks pointing to Amity and Skara.
"Oh, yeah. This here is my friend Skara-", Skara cuts Luz off.
"Bard witch, professional Grudgby strategist, and Flyer Derby player. Nice to meet you.", Skara introduces herself farther. Amity speaks up next.
"I'm Luz's girlfriend. My name is Amity Blight-"
"Blight?", the tall witch asks in genuine surprise, "As in Blight Industries?"
"Mhm.", Amity confirms with a neutral expression.
"I'm sorry, but you can't stay here. You're too much of a security risk.", the tall witch orders. Luz immediately jumps into action.
"Amity has nothing to do with her parents' company. I swear!", Luz speaks up.
"Everyone here knows that Blight Industries works closely with the Emperor's Coven, and Emperor Belos personally commissioned an army of Abomination soldiers. Rumor has it, that the order is so enormous, that a second factory is to be built, though we don't know where-"
"Not supposed to be built, it's already finished, but it's not operational yet. It's sited at the knee.", Amity counters her with the same energy. The witch, however, ignores it.
"Odalia Blight is one of the strongest oracle witches on the Isles, almost only topped by Osran. Just by being here, you could jeopardize our entire operation if she searches for you!", she accuses Amity.
"My mother doesn't give a crap about me! The only thing she cares about is the family name and having power. And I personally don't give a shit about either of those things!", Amity almost shouts at her, when suddenly another witch approaches.
"Let it go Diane. I'll personally vouch for her.", the new witch speaks up.
"ALSA?", both Skara and Amity scream in disbelief. Luz frowns at them.
"You know each other?", Luz asks curiously.
"She's one of Boscha's moms.", Amity enlightens her. Luz widens her eyes in disbelief.
"No way...", she mutters to herself, which makes Alsa smile in amusement before turning towards Amity and Skara.
"I'm glad to see both you again. It's been a while... My daughter told me that you're not friends with her anymore. It hurts me as her mother to hear that, but she has to live with the consequences of her actions too...", Alsa explains with a kind voice, "Anyway, Diane, you have nothing to fear from them. Amity can certainly help us get information about Belos' army. Storage locations, blueprints of Abomination soldiers..."
"Yeah okay, okay... you guys have sold me...", she admits in defeat, "Welcome. I am Chief Healer Diane Liwin. 'Liwin' for short, for the three of you."
Shortly after, Liwin turns around, and walks back to the others in room, leaving Luz, Amity, Skara, and Alsa behind. The latter speaks up.
"I have to apologize for Diane's behavior. Usually, she is not so... abrasive. She's under a lot of pressure because not only was another one of our members arrested yesterday, our original meeting place blew up as well...", Alsa tells them.
"I don't blame her.", Amity begins, "The name Blight has its baggage. I can certainly understand her not trusting me because of my parents' reputation. But I also have to point out: I'm not them."
"True enough... You've changed since the last time I saw you, you know that? You've grown, and I don't mean physically...", Alsa compliments her. Amity smiles sheepishly at that and takes Luz' hand.
"Thanks... I had good reasons for that...", Amity says softly while glancing at Luz. Alsa's gaze follows her.
"Yeah, I know that look just too well... Say, Luz, how have you been doing by the way?", Alsa asks curiously. But Luz just stares at her. "Luz?"
"Oh, yeah, sorry. Um, I just can't get over you being Boscha's mom...", Luz states, "I mean, you're so nice, and kind, and helpful... And Boscha is so... not."
This level of sheer confusion on Luz's face causes Alsa to crack up a little, same but less on Amity and Skara.
"Heh... Yeah, she's my sweetheart, but I'll be the first to admit that she probably inherited her attitudes... from me and her mother Sarah... In our school days, we were bullies just like her...", Alsa recalls.
"And you guys didn't do anything to oppose that with Boscha?", Luz asks before Alsa sighs.
"Oh, and how we tried that... But that's something for another time. The meeting is starting."
"OKAY EVERYBODY! LISTEN UP!", Liwin speaks very loudly from the middle of the room, gathering everyone around her. Two of the three witches who have not introduced themselves are complete strangers to Amity. The third witch however, Amity recognizes as Mrs. Clawthorne, who also subtly waves to her and Luz. "As you may be able to hear from my voice, I'm extremely pissed right now! Last night we lost our hiding place under the abandoned factory near Latissa. The place was overrun by coven scouts, and one of us was arrested after they destroyed any traces leading to us. With our current security arrangements for our meetings, we no longer have to rely on fixed locations and are more flexible, so the loss of that hideout isn't that big of a deal, but we are now even less people."
At that moment, Alsa clears her throat for all to hear clearly, drawing Liwin's attention.
"Oh, right. As of today, we have three new members. One in particular should be familiar to all of you: Luz, the human. Wanted throughout the Isles by Belos himself. Alive. Reward: Seven billion snails.", Luz waves sheepishly to the others in the room, the two unknown witches giving her skeptical looks, "Next, Skara. Athlete with strategic skills, and proficient in bard magic. And our final new addition is Amity Blight."
Amity growls at Liwin, barely audible, after a short pause in her speech. Luz squeezes her hand softly a few times in succession, which is certainly sufficient as a necessary distraction. Liwin continues.
"Today we have two far too big problems to take care of. First, we have been tipped off by a contact within the Emperor's castle, that Belos appears to have a large contingent sent out to search for Galdorstones."
"Galdorstones?", Mrs. Clawthorne asks.
"Ancient relics capable of boosting magic power. According to folklore, the stones were hidden by Illusionists hundreds of years ago and have been protected by an unspecified Guardian ever since.", Liwin replies, "The good news is, that our contact in the castle was able to get us a map. The bad news is that the Emperor's Coven has one as well."
One of the unknown witches speaks up.
"So, we have to get there before them and steal the stones before Belos can get them?", he asks.
"Either steal them, or destroy them completely. While we're doing that, we'll start a second operation at the same time. Since a lot of coven scouts will be involved in the search for the Galdorstones, we will take the opportunity to get as many of our people out of the Conformatorium as possible.", Liwin states, "Questions?"
Skara raises her hand.
"Is there any info on how many scouts will be involved in the search? Or if any special forces, or anything else worth mentioning?", she asks.
"Smart question, kid. The search will be led by the Golden Guard. Belos' right-hand man. As for everything else, we have no idea. Also, it is not excluded that he is also accompanied by coven heads. Our contact wasn't able to provide more information."
"Do we have a time, or a place?", Skara asks further.
"We can assume that they have already started the search by now. Depending on the exact size of the unit, they are either on foot, or in airships. The stones are suspected to be somewhere in the forearm forest. I have given Gwendolyn a copy of the map. We can't say for sure where they are hidden until we ourselves get there. Any other questions?"
"How many of your people are incarcerated in the Conformatorium?", Amity asks.
"Probably five. Seven, at most.", Liwin replies dryly.
"You're not sure?", Amity wonders.
"Listen Blight, I know for a fact that far too many people have been unfairly imprisoned. And not just there. I know for a fact, that the four initial members were caught early, including the bard whose idea all this was, and that they've been held in the Conformatorium ever since. I know that one of my own people has been petrified two weeks ago, for crimes he did not commit. The intel in and out of the Conformatorium is extremely sparse. Therefore, I can do nothing but hope that two of my people are still alive. There might be three, if the one who was arrested yesterday has already been transferred there. So yes, Blight, I am not sure... Titan...", Liwin sighs in annoyance, and Amity leans towards Luz.
"It's quite hard for me right now not to see this as an insult... I just asked a simple question...", she whispers. Liwin continues before Luz can answer her in any way.
"So, now to who's doing what? Gwendolyn, I'd like you to lead the Galdorstone team. Skara, you help her. You'll get to show off your flyer derby skills. Alsa, you take Luz and the Blight girl to the Conformatorium, and take care of possible wounded. We don't know how our people have been treated, and if anyone needs help. Kate and Doug, you split up however you want, and handle aerial recon at both locations. I myself will construct another rendezvous point, before joining the Galdorstone team later. Make sure you don't lose your business cards... I'm looking at you, Doug. Good luck."
And with that, Liwin draws a large green magic circle in the air, and below everyone in the room, thick longish leaves shoot out of the ground, encasing everyone individually until they all are surrounded in complete darkness.